Through Thick, and Then
by JonBgirlT
Summary: Sequel to Pride and Joy and Pain. Maria is living with Michael. Is this really the way to solve her problems with her mother?
1. Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I don't own a thing. This ain't mine.  
  
Author's Note: This is the Sequel to Pride and Joy and Pain. It needed one because nothing really got resolved in that fic. So here's my chance to explain why everything happened the way that it did, and of course to give you a peek into the "new" life Maria and Michael are living.  
  
Have fun in Roswell, and while you're there could you pick up one of those alien bobble heads for me? They're so cute!!  
  
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"So how are you enjoying the domestic life?" Isabel asked.  
  
Michael was at Isabel's apartment dropping off a movie that Maria borrowed.  
  
"What do you mean?" Michael replied trying to look confused about the question he was just asked.  
  
"Everyone else is dying to ask the question, but I guess I'm the only one who has the guts to do it. You've been living with Maria for a month now, and to everyone's amazement, you both are still alive."  
  
Michael just smirked at the comment, and Isabel continued.  
  
"I imagine that Maria was the one to tame you."  
  
Michael looked up abruptly.  
  
"I knew that would get you attention. I ask again, how is everything going?"  
  
"Everyone really wants to know? Why haven't you ask Max? He only moved out last week."  
  
"I haven't asked Max because I wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth. So?"  
  
"So, everything is fine. It was rocky at first, but we found a routine that works for both of us."  
  
"And what's that?"  
  
"Making sure that our business is our business."  
  
"Fine Michael. How is Maria doing? Liz told me that she really doesn't talk about the whole "Mom" thing."  
  
"Just think about how you would feel if your mom told you to leave, and then completely avoided you whenever you tired to get in contact with her."  
  
"Oh," was all that Isabel said, because that was something that she did not want to imagine at all.  
  
"Playing twenty questions was fun, but I've got to be going. My shift at the Crashdown starts in an hour."  
  
Isabel walked Michael to the door. "Will you say hi to Maria for me?"  
  
"Sure, bye Isabel."  
  
*  
  
Maria turned over in bed expecting the familiar warmth of Michael's body to be there. Maria's eyes snapped open when she felt the emptiness next to her. Looking at the clock on the nightstand she saw that it was already nine thirty. Michael's shift did not start for at least another hour, and Maria heard no other sound in the apartment. Sitting up in bed she stretched and rubbed her eyes.  
  
"Maybe Mr. Parker called him in early." Maria thought to herself.  
  
She stood up and headed to the bathroom. It was obvious that Michael had used it; wet towels were on the floor. Maria picked them up walked out the bathroom to the patio and hung the towels on the line.  
  
"I was going to pick those up when I came back."  
  
Maria screamed in surprise.  
  
"Don't do that."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You scared me! Where did you go anyway?"  
  
"We were out of milk," Michael said opening the refrigerator and putting the carton inside. "And I took that movie you borrowed back to Isabel."  
  
"Thanks, I was going to do that after I got off work today."  
  
"I know. But since we missed date night last week, because we were helping Max move I thought we could have it tonight."  
  
"That's sweet Michael, but I work until closing tonight and I'm opening for Liz tomorrow morning."  
  
"I never thought I'd be the one saying this, but I saw more of you when we didn't live together."  
  
"I know, but we're both busy. You have two jobs, I'm singing with the Kit Shickers, and we both go to school, some of the time. We just have a lot on our plates right now."  
  
"Why do you have to open for Liz tomorrow?"  
  
"Because she's doing something with Max in the morning."  
  
"Then why don't you ask her to close for you tonight? I know she's not on the schedule. It would be an even trade."  
  
"Okay I'll ask her." Maria walked over to Michael and looked him in the eyes.  
  
"What do you have in mind?"  
  
Michael scratched his eyebrow and replied, "Nothing really just thought we needed to get out. Have you eaten anything yet?"  
  
Maria shook her head.  
  
"You eat and I'm going to get ready for work." Michael planted a quick kiss on Maria's lips. "Don't forget to brush your teeth after you eat."  
  
Maria gave him a little push in the direction of the bedroom.  
  
"You should talk, there's scorch marks on your pillow in the morning, dragon breath." Maria said to Michael's back.  
  
Maria poured herself a bowl of cereal and found a magazine to read while she ate. She was in the middle of an article titled Find the Right Perfume For You when that phone rang. Hopping off the stool she was sitting on, Maria walked over to answer the phone, but Michael reached it before she did.  
  
"Hello? Yeah. Yeah. Alright, bye."  
  
Maria eyed Michael curiously.  
  
"That was Max. He wanted to meet with me at the Crashdown."  
  
"I wasn't going to ask."  
  
"No, but you would have looked at me like that until I told you, right?"  
  
"You know me so well. I'll see you later." Maria stood on her tiptoes and kissed Michael.  
  
"That wasn't so bad. I like Maria with a hint of Lucky Charms. Magically delicious."  
  
"You're so nasty."  
  
Michael walked out the door, "Make sure you talk to Liz."  
  
"Yes sir." Maria said saluting Michael before he closed the door.  
  
Looking around the place she now called home, Maria could not help and think about how much everything in her life had changed since 'that night'. It seemed like years ago, but in reality only four weeks had gone by. Maria hardly talked about it and Michael never forced her to. He has on several occasions asked her to talk about it, but Michael never pressed the issue.  
  
*A Month Earlier*  
  
The night Michael brought Maria to his apartment he held her while she slept, and he rocked her whenever she awoke with tears in her eyes. The next morning Michael was by her side the entire time when Maria informed the rest of the group about her current situation, only telling them what happened and that she would be staying with Michael for a little while. After hearing the news pretty much everyone kept their opinions to themselves. No one had the heart to say anything to Maria at all. When Maria and Michael where alone again she asked a question that had been nagging her the whole day.  
  
~ "The whole time I was there I felt you. I don't know how I just did."  
  
"I felt you too, that's why I knew I had to get to you."~  
  
"Michael?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"How exactly was I able to feel you? I knew you were coming and I knew that you wanted me to be all right."  
  
Shrugging his shoulders Michael answered, "I'm not exactly sure. All of a sudden I was getting this flood of emotions that I knew weren't mine, and I just knew they were coming from you."  
  
Looking into his eyes Maria was almost afraid to ask her next question.  
  
"What kind of emotions were you getting from me?"  
  
"Do you really want to talk about this now?"  
  
"I don't think I would've asked you if I didn't."  
  
"Pain, desperation, it felt like my heart was breaking."  
  
Maria laid her head on Michael chest. "Do you feel anything now?"  
  
Michael thought a moment before he spoke. "Yeah. What about you?"  
  
Maria nodded her head.  
  
"This is an interesting development. Should we tell the others?"  
  
"Not now. I don't think I'm up for another group meeting."  
  
The next few weeks were a blur for Maria. Everyone was doing everything in his or her power to keep Maria occupied so she would not think too much about her mother, who had yet to return any of her calls. Liz was constantly asking Maria over for study dates, Isabel initiated movie night at her place, and Max came through as Maria's best 'girlfriend' again. Maria was constantly in motion, but the times when she was still and things were quiet were the hardest on her. Those were the times that Michael was there for her, because he felt what she felt.  
  
*Present*  
  
After Maria finished eating breakfast and cleaning up she called Liz. The phone rang five times before Liz answered it.  
  
"Liz it's me. Did I wake you?"  
  
"No I'm up, I'm just a little distracted."  
  
"Max?"  
  
"How did you guess?"  
  
"I can hear it in you voice and he called earlier to have Michael meet him at the Crashdown. Anyway I wanted to ask you a favor."  
  
Liz started to giggle on the other end of the phone.  
  
"Stop that, I'm on the phone. Maria I'm sorry. What were you saying?"  
  
"I wanted to know if you would close up for me tonight? I'm going to work my regular shift, but maybe I could get off an hour or two earlier?"  
  
"Is anything wrong?"  
  
"No nothing's wrong. Michael sort of has something planned, and I have no idea what it is so don't ask."  
  
"I'll close up. It's not a problem. You're still opening for me tomorrow, right?"  
  
"Of course. I know you're tied up now, though I hope not literally."  
  
"Maria!"  
  
"What? Tell Girlfriend I said hey. Oh and ask him if we're doing pedicures and facials this weekend."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Liz it's a joke, Max will get it. Talk to you later babe."  
  
Maria hung up the phone and walked to the bathroom and quickly took a shower. When she was done Maria got dress and was just about to walk out the door when the phone rang.  
  
Maria answered but there was silence on the other end. She repeated herself two times before she hung up.  
  
"Must have been a wrong number."  
  
*The Valenti Residence*  
  
"Amy this is silly. Did Maria pick up the phone?"  
  
Amy DeLuca just nodded her head.  
  
"You're the adult in this situation, just talk to her. I know for a fact that she misses you very much."  
  
"And say what Jim? My feelings haven't changed. I don't want to see her with that boy."  
  
"Michael's an important part of her life. He's not a bad guy; he takes good care of her. I've seen that with my own eyes."  
  
"Well Melissa says-,"  
  
"Enough about Melissa. I understand that she's a friend of yours and you see her at your shows and conventions, but her life is not your own."  
  
"All I'm saying is that everything that happened between Melissa and her daughter was too much like what was beginning to happen between Maria and I."  
  
Jim took Amy's hands, which were now shaking.  
  
"Maria is nothing like Melissa's daughter. She not into drugs or anything else."  
  
"But I know that she's hiding something from me, she's been hiding something from me as long as she been with Michael."  
  
Jim made no attempt to comment because he knew all too well the secret that Maria was keeping from her mother.  
  
"I just want my baby back."  
  
"You're going to have to learn to accept Michael as a part of the Maria package."  
  
"I don't know if I can do that yet." 


	2. Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I don't own a thing. This ain't mine.  
  
Author's Note: This is the Sequel to Pride and Joy and Pain. It needed one because nothing really got resolved in that fic. So here's my chance to explain why everything happened the way that it did, and of course to give you a peek into the "new" life Maria and Michael are living.  
  
Thank You: I want to thank Diane for all her help on this part you're amazing. Also I want to thank those of you who reviewed this part, Jazzypunker, Michaelover101, and L.J. Next part is up, enjoy.  
  
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Maria approached the ordering window to pick up a tray of food for a family of four.  
  
"Did you talk to Liz?"  
  
"Yeah, right after you left. I can leave two hours early."  
  
"Then I'll come back at eight to pick you up."  
  
"You're leaving?"  
  
"Only to change clothes. I don't keep a spare pair here like you and Liz do."  
  
"So what's going on that you can't just wear what you have on now?"  
  
"Nothing, I don't like smelling like grease all the time."  
  
"Are you going to take me home, before we go wherever it is we're going."  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"Oh, I get to smell like work but you don't?"  
  
"Aren't you going to clean up here?"  
  
Rolling her eyes, Maria picked up her order and left to deliver it to her table.  
  
Staring after her Michael mumbled, "What'd I say?"  
  
Michael was getting ready to leave when Maria went on her last break.  
  
"Are you mad at me for something?" Michael asked Maria.  
  
She turned, looked at him, and narrowed her eyes. "Why would you just assume that I want to get ready here? How do you know I even brought a change of clothes?"  
  
"Did you?" Michael knew that she had because he saw her walk in with clothes in her hand, but he asked the question anyway.  
  
"I did but that's beside the point. Answer my question."  
  
"You always seem to get ready here and I said this morning that we should go right after work. I thought it would be easier for you that way. Sorry I guess I thought wrong."  
  
Maria considered Michael's words; he was actually right. More often than not she changed or got dressed for things in Liz's room or in the employees' bathroom. 'I hate telling him he's right,' Maria said to herself.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Okay?"  
  
"Yeah, okay. I shouldn't have snapped. You had a good reason to think what you thought."  
  
Michael, realizing what was going on, tried desperately to keep a straight face. "So I was right, and that would make you-,"  
  
Maria cut him off before he could finish. "Yes that's what I am."  
  
"You have to say the word. These are your own rules."  
  
Maria cursed under her breath. It had been her idea to always admit to one another when they were wrong, and apologize. 'It makes for a more honest and open relationship.' Those had been Maria's exact words.  
  
"I was wrong."  
  
"And?"  
  
"You're just loving this aren't you?"  
  
"Not at all," Michael said with a smirk.  
  
"I'm sorry. There I said it. Now go home and change out of those smelly clothes."  
  
"That wasn't really that hard was it?"  
  
"Yes it was," Maria was now visibly pouting.  
  
"Poor baby."  
  
"Don't make fun of me."  
  
Michael walked over and kissed Maria on the forehead.  
  
"I wasn't, too much. I'll be back in no time to get you."  
  
Maria watched Michael leave and smiling to herself, she spoke to the empty room. "I love that jackass."  
  
The dinner rush came in and things were so busy that Maria did not notice how close it was to eight o'clock. Liz tapped her on the shoulder while she was mixing a chocolate shake. She already had her teal green dress and alien head apron on; her antennas were in her hand.  
  
"Hey Liz. Thanks so much for coving for me this evening. As you can see we're pretty busy but nothing that you can't handle. Everyone has been served already expect for that couple by the window, they just came in but I got them drinks already."  
  
"Whoa, slow down. I know that you wouldn't leave me with a mess."  
  
"Yeah, I just want you to know what's going on."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"One more thing. Would you mind if I went to your bathroom and got ready?"  
  
"No, go ahead."  
  
Maria went to her locker and took out the clothes she had brought with her. She went upstairs to Liz's room and closed the door. She went into the bathroom and quickly washed up in the sink already knowing where Liz kept her clean towels and washcloths. Maria dressed just as fast and was putting the finishing touches to her make-up when Liz came into the bathroom.  
  
"I just wanted to let you know that Michael just got here. What is it that you're not telling me?"  
  
"What do mean? I've told you everything I know, and that's-," Maria started but stopped suddenly.  
  
"Maria, what is it?"  
  
"It's nothing really, just a feeling I have."  
  
Liz gave Maria a knowing look.  
  
"Was it an emotional connection feeling?" That was what everyone was calling the connection Maria and Michael had.  
  
Maria just nodded.  
  
Michael and Maria both realized that the connection was very strong when intense emotions were involved. The connection was always there but usually the emotions felt like soft words that were being whispered inside of them. That made it easy to sometimes forget how closely interwoven their lives had really become.  
  
"What do you feel?"  
  
"A sinking in the pit of my stomach." Maria took a deep breath and as fast as the feeling came over her it was gone. "I wonder what that was about."  
  
"Well it could be that Michael's down there pacing in the backroom."  
  
Maria just laughed. "He's getting impatient. How long has he actually been down there?"  
  
"He came in about five minutes after you went upstairs."  
  
"Okay, it hasn't been too long then."  
  
Maria took her hair out of the ponytail that she put it in for work. She gently brushed it then ran her fingers through her curls. Standing back from the mirror, she appraised her reflection.  
  
"Do I look okay?"  
  
"You look great."  
  
And Maria did. She was wearing a forest green halter-top that brought out her eyes perfectly along with black, jean hip-huggers.  
  
"You know what you need?" Liz opened the top drawer underneath the counter of the sink. She pulled out a simple black barrette.  
  
"You should pull you hair back, it's hiding too much of your face."  
  
Maria did what Liz suggested and approved of her look.  
  
"Thanks. Can I leave some of my stuff here? I'll probably get it tomorrow after I finish my shift."  
  
"Do you even have to ask?"  
  
"I know, I know. I'm leaving then." Maria took one more look in the mirror before she grabbed her purse, hugged Liz and headed downstairs.  
  
Michael looked up at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. When Maria reached the last step she stopped to find him watching every move that she made. When his eyes reached her face she spoke.  
  
"Do I look alright? I didn't know if I was supposed to dress up so I went causal."  
  
"Beautiful."  
  
Maria was amazed that just one word could make her insides quiver. "Thank you. You don't look half bad yourself," she said smiling.  
  
Michael was wearing his signature blue jeans, but instead of a plain t- shirt he was wearing a black button down shirt.  
  
"Are you ready?" He asked.  
  
"Yep. Do I finally get to know where we're going?"  
  
"We're still going out, nothing's changed."  
  
"That's not what I meant and you know it."  
  
Michael ran one hand through his hair and took Maria's with the other. "Let's go."  
  
Pulling her out the door, he walked her over to Max's car, which was parked at the back of the Crashdown.  
  
"I'm glad we're not taking the bike."  
  
Michael looked mildly hurt. "I thought you like taking the bike."  
  
Maria playfully pushed Michael. "I like the bike, I hate the helmet hair."  
  
Michael drove farther and farther outside of Roswell. The night was warm, so it was perfect weather for a convertible. He stopped the car in a place that Maria did not recognize and they both stepped out of the car. Maria pushed a few stray hairs out of her face before speaking.  
  
"So much for my hair."  
  
She looked around taking in all that was around her. The sky was the deepest cobalt blue that she had ever seen. The stars shone like diamonds making up for the absence of the moon. The surrounding desert was completely silent except for the rhythmic chirping of crickets.  
  
"Michael, this is gorgeous. I've never seen anything this beautiful before."  
  
"Neither have I," Michael said not looking at anything but Maria who could not help but blush.  
  
"What are we doing here?"  
  
He looked up at the sky before answering. "Back when I was living with Hank, just before Max saved Liz, I found this place. I used to come out here to get away from everything. The sky always seemed so big here, it made me feel closer to-,"  
  
"Home," Maria finished.  
  
"I've never showed this place to anyone."  
  
"Max? Isabel?"  
  
"All this was the first thing that was all mine, and you're the only person that I have ever wanted to show this to."  
  
"I don't know what to say."  
  
"This really is a night for firsts," Michael said smirking. Reaching back into the car, he popped the trunk. He walked to the rear of the car and pulled out a picnic basket and then closed the trunk. Walking back over to Maria, he placed his hand at the small of her back. "Come with me I have something else to show you."  
  
They walked for about ten minutes before coming to the mouth of a cave. Michael stopped and set the basket he was carrying down. Opening it up, he took a blanket out and spread it on the ground in front of the cave before setting the basket in the middle of the blanket and going to work on starting a fire. Maria looked on without saying a word or even moving. She was stunned by the amount of care and planning that he had put into this evening.  
  
"Maria, where were you just then?"  
  
"I was just thinking. Did I have that spaced look about me?"  
  
"Yeah you did. You want to sit?"  
  
"After all the work you did I'd better."  
  
She sat down followed by Michael who sat behind her. Resting her back on Michael's chest, she looked up at the sky, and sighed. This was absolutely perfect. "I can see why you like it out here. Everything's so peaceful. Thank you for showing me this."  
  
"I should've showed you this a long time ago, but I kept thinking that I would lose something that was mine."  
  
"Do you still feel that you're losing something?" Maria asked quietly.  
  
"No, of course I don't."  
  
She turned around to face Michael and searched his eyes. "Michael what-,"  
  
"Maria, I need to say something."  
  
"Go ahead," she replied somewhat worried because the sinking feeling had returned to her stomach.  
  
"I brought you here because I thought it would be easier for me to explain everything I need to explain to you. I don't think that showing you this place is losing something, because you're a part of me. Everything I have I want you to have. You're the one person who's been there for me when I've needed you the most."  
  
Maria was close to tears now. "You've been there for me too, Michael. I don't know what I would have done without you, especially now."  
  
"I know that the past few weeks have been hard on you, but during the time that we've spent together I realized that there's nothing I want more than to see you happy. You deserve to have all the things that you want most in the world. I'm going to do all that I can to make sure that you have it."  
  
"What are you saying?" Maria whispered.  
  
"I've got something for you." Michael reached into his pocket and pulled a small object out. "Max went with me to Santa Fe a few days ago to pick this out. Actually he drove and I picked it out. You want to see it?"  
  
She just nodded her head. Michael took Maria's left and slipped a silver ring on her third finger. Her breath caught in her throat as she brought her hand up to look at her new piece of jewelry. "Oh my God."  
  
"Max picked it up for me this morning, that's why he called."  
  
"Is this what I think it is?"  
  
"You see the symbols on the ring? They actually mean something."  
  
"Michael?"  
  
"It's a Celtic knot called a labyrinth. It the most complicated kind of knot. The saleslady said that people who are drawn to the design love mystery." Michael took Maria's hand again and pointed to a symbol on the ring. "These circles mean growth in the relationship and then they turn into triangles. The triangles go upward and downward representing the heavens and the earth, you and me. The lines show connected lives combining the experience of the two involved, but maintaining their individuality. The last meaning is in the name itself, because in ancient times people walked labyrinths to help find direction in their lives, their center. You're my center. That's why I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You make me whole."  
  
Maria's tears were flowing freely and she was trembling ever so slightly.  
  
"Maria DeLuca, will you marry me?"  
  
Maria looked at her ring again studying every curve and dip, knowing exactly what it meant to them both.  
  
Michael was uncomfortable with Maria's silence. "If you don't like the ring, I could take it back and get something more traditional. Max was going to show me how to make a diamond, I'll just ask him to-."  
  
She put a finger on his lips to silence him. "Don't even think of taking this ring back, it's perfect, absolutely perfect."  
  
"Are you going to answer my question?"  
  
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. "Michael, I love you so much."  
  
"And?"  
  
"I would love to marry you."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Maria nodded her head, wiping the tears off her face but quickly replacing them with new ones. Michael cupped her face with his hand and gently kissed her lips. Shifting her body, she wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer to her. He rested his free hand on her hip. She turned her head to the side and tried to catch her breath. Sweeping Maria's hair aside, he trailed kisses down her shoulder.  
  
"When do you have to get the car back to Max?"  
  
"Before the morning," Michael said between kisses.  
  
"We have all night?"  
  
Stopping his chosen path on Maria's skin, he looked into her eyes. "We have our whole lives."  
  
"That doesn't scare you?" Maria asked smiling, but the tone of her voice was dead serious.  
  
"I'd be lying if I said it didn't. I still have a lump on the back off my head from the time you kicked me out of the bed."  
  
"It's not like you didn't deserve it, and I did apologize."  
  
"What were we fighting about anyway?"  
  
"I don't really remember, but I know I was right."  
  
Michael shook his head. "My point is that life without you scares me more."  
  
Maria placed a hand on Michael's cheek. "Let's enjoy the rest of our night. Did you bring another blanket, it's starting to get a little cool out?"  
  
"How about we keep each other warm?" He replied, a sly grin touching his lips.  
  
*  
  
When Maria awoke it was still dark, and the stars looked as though they were shining brighter than before. Michael's arm was draped protectively over her body. He did bring an extra blanket that was now covering them both. Maria committed to memory the way Michael's hands caressed every part of her body, how the cool wind would blow drying the beads of perspiration, making her shiver. Finally, the non-stop emotions that came from them both were still echoing inside of her. She smiled to herself as she fingered her new piece of jewelry. The ring seemed to glow as the starlight illuminated all the different twists and turns in the design.  
  
"You awake?" Michael asked.  
  
Maria nodded. "We have to leave soon, don't we?"  
  
"We can stay a little longer, but you still have to open the Crashdown. You need sleep in a real bed even if it's for a couple of hours."  
  
Maria pressed herself closer to Michael's body. "Why did I say I'd work this morning? I don't want to leave this place, everything here is perfect."  
  
"All this isn't going anywhere. We can come here anytime you want."  
  
"Alright," she replied the reluctance apparent in her voice.  
  
Michael and Maria took their time dressing each other. Before an article of clothing was put on, the skin was stroked and kissed. He packed everything while she sat in the car. Getting into the car he saw that she had fallen asleep. Looking at her, Michael pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, which caused her eyelids to flutter and then open.  
  
"I didn't mean to wake you."  
  
Maria smiled and scooted closer to Michael. She did not fall back to sleep, but they sat in a comfortable silence on the way back to town. He dropped Maria off at the apartment before dropping the car off at Max's where he had left his bike. When he arrived back at the apartment Maria was in bed. Michael undressed and then sat down on the bed.  
  
"Shower, now." Maria spoke, her voice thick with sleep.  
  
"Go back to sleep."  
  
Michael took his shower and then got into bed. He checked to see if Maria had set her alarm, something that she frequently forgot to do, and drifted off to sleep.  
  
The next morning Maria practically leaped out of bed. She tried not to wake Michael, who actually had the morning off, while she got ready. When she walked into the Crashdown Liz was sitting at the counter with Max.  
  
"Am I late?" Maria asked.  
  
"No. Max came early and we've been sitting here, talking."  
  
Maria smiled a knowing smile. "Of course, talking."  
  
Liz turned a deep crimson and just smiled in response.  
  
"What about you, you practically skipped through the door."  
  
It was Maria's turn to blush. "I had a really good evening."  
  
Liz walked over to Maria and spoke in a hushed voice. "Details?"  
  
"Not just yet. If I say anything right now I'll be no good for work."  
  
Liz looked slightly confused and shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"I promise I'll tell you later. Since I am here early why don't you and Max take off? I can handle everything."  
  
"Thanks Maria. And we will be talking later."  
  
"Go already," she said shooing the couple out the door and locking it behind them.  
  
Maria walked into the back room as soon as the door swung closed she felt a hand go over her mouth. She began to fight fiercely against her attacker, but whoever it was their hold was too strong. Maria did not immediately notice that there was a cloth being held in the hand that covered both of her airways. Her head began to fog and she fought harder to get away. Unfortunately it was useless and never-ending darkness overtook her. 


	3. Part 3

astacia, Sarah, RiaRath101, me, angel2410, alvarezrai, trickhayden Thanks for all of your feedback it was great. Have fun reading this next part.  
  
Tiffany  
  
*  
  
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*  
  
Michael sat up suddenly in bed. He was just about to go to sleep when a feeling of pure terror slammed into him. The emotion was so strong he felt as though his heart was going to beat out of his chest. The feeling was all consuming, it coursed through his veins and made his head swim. He knew that Maria needed him and needed him now, but as abruptly as the feeling had come it was now gone. At first Michael was relieved until he realized that he did not feel anything. He was always connected to Maria; their emotions were never hidden from one another. Now there was nothing on the other end of the connection. There was none of the expectant relief Maria felt anytime something scared her and she found out that it was nothing, or the annoyance she felt from being scared for a silly reason, just silence.  
  
Michael put on the first pieces of clothing that he could get his hands on and rushed out the front door. He had nothing else on his mind except getting to Maria. He did not even hear the sirens that followed behind him as he sped through the town. When he reached the Crashdown the doors flew open before he touched them. He frantically searched for Maria calling her name, never hearing a response. When he reached the back Michael spotted Maria's purse on the ground and when he picked it up he was flooded by images of her fighting her attacker until she lost consciousness. When he tried to concentrate on the attacker's face he felt like something was blocking him. Walking back to the front of the Crashdown he was stopped by Sheriff Valenti.  
  
"Do you make a habit of running from the police?"  
  
"What?  
  
"What's wrong? Why were you in such a hurry to get here? You're in luck that I was the one behind you, because that little trick with the door would be hard to explain to anyone else."  
  
"I don't have time for this! I need to find Maria!"  
  
"You kids have an argument?"  
  
"NO! SOMEBODY TOOK HER! SHE'S GONE!" Michael screamed.  
  
"Whoa, Michael calm down. How do you know this?"  
  
"I JUST DO!"  
  
"Okay, okay. The first thing that we need is for you to calm down. Maria was here opening up this morning, right?"  
  
Michael just nodded. He was very irritated. Of course all Valenti wanted to do was help, but the longer he took asking questions the longer it would be before they found her.  
  
"Do you think that this is related to you, Max, and Isabel?"  
  
"I don't know," Michael answered in a quiet voice. The thought had of course crossed his mind, but the idea that Maria could get hurt because of what he was did not sit well with him.  
  
"Given your history I think for now we'll act like it is. Meaning we're going to have to keep this quiet. If we get information that tells us otherwise then we'll involve more people. We should start calling everyone to let them know what's going on."  
  
"We can't afford to waste any more time."  
  
"Do you have some idea or feeling of where Maria might be?"  
  
"It doesn't work like that," Michael said. He was searching his feelings for anything that would tell him that she was okay, but he was met with nothing more than his own fear, anxiety, and growing anger.  
  
"Where's Max?"  
  
"With Liz"  
  
"I'll call him and tell him to come here with Liz. She can open up today, and-"  
  
"She can open up! What the hell are you talking about!"  
  
"Everything has to appear normal, at least until we know more about what's going on."  
  
"While you're busy trying to make sure that everything seems normal, I'll be out looking for Maria."  
  
Michael stormed out of the Crashdown not waiting for Valenti to try and stop him. He roared away with no idea of where to go, but that was not going to prevent him from looking. He began checking all of the abandoned buildings he could think of. He reasoned that whoever had Maria could not have gotten too far in such a short amount of time. After leaving the last building, and finding no traces of her, Michael decided it was time to head back to the Crashdown. It was not that he wanted to stop, but it had been almost five hours since he left and he still was not getting anything from Maria. He needed help and the only people he trusted were most likely all there.  
  
*Crashdown*  
  
When Valenti called Max he arrived with Liz relatively quickly, concern was visible on both of their faces. It was evident that on the way to the Crashdown Max did his best to calm Liz down, but as soon as they walked through the door Liz hit Valenti with a barrage of questions. The frustrating thing was that he had no answers to give, not even when they asked where Michael was. The only thing he could tell them was what he had said to Michael earlier. Liz reluctantly went to work opening up and Max called everyone.  
  
It was nearly noon and the lunchtime rush was in full swing. It was packed and Liz was trying desperately to keep it together. When Michael walked through the door everything stopped. Liz, who had just finished clearing a table, dropped everything in her hand. Isabel, who was helping Liz serve customers, was instantly at his side. He was pale and looked incredibly tired. When Isabel got a closer look she could tell that he was shaking. She led him to the back and he plopped down on the couch.  
  
Isabel whipped out her cell phone to call the Sheriff and Max. Valenti left looking for clues about Maria's whereabouts and Max and Kyle were looking for Michael to make sure that there were no more public displays of his powers. She walked away from Michael and spoke into the phone in a hushed voice.  
  
"Max you need to hurry. I've never seen him like this before. He hasn't spoken a word since he walked in through the door, no demands for action, nothing. He's just staring off into space."  
  
"What about his powers? Has anything blown up?"  
  
"Not so far."  
  
"Okay, I'm on my way. Is, just keep him there okay."  
  
"Max, I honestly don't think that will be a problem."  
  
Isabel hung up with Max and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She held it out to Michael who made no motion to take it from her hands.  
  
"Michael please," Isabel pleaded. "You look terrible. Could you just take a small sip?"  
  
He finally reached for the water and as soon as the glass passed from Isabel's hand to his own it shattered. He did not even flinch; he just shook the shards of glass off his hand.  
  
"Oh my God. Michael, you're bleeding." Isabel exclaimed while reaching for the first aid kit. There were cuts all over the palm of his hand. "Does it hurt much?" She asked while wiping way as much blood as she could.  
  
For the first time since he walked through the door Michael seemed to actually focus on something, namely on what Isabel had just said.  
  
"Isabel, I don't feel anything."  
  
"That good because some of these cuts look deep."  
  
He grabbed her wrist with his other hand. "ISABEL! I DON'T FEEL ANYTHING!" He said pronouncing every word.  
  
Isabel sat up a little straighter and took her wrist back. Studying his face she knew he was talking about Maria.  
  
"How long?"  
  
"Since she was taken."  
  
"What does that mean? I mean could she be-"  
  
"Don't even finish that sentence. I would have felt that if it had happened. It's something else, I just can't figure it out."  
  
"Maybe she's just sleeping."  
  
"I feel her when she sleeps."  
  
"I'm sorry Michael. I know that this is hard, but we'll get her back"  
  
The door picked that moment to open up and in poured Sheriff Valenti followed closely by Max, Kyle, and Liz. The first thing that they noticed was Michael's bloody hand.  
  
"We had an accident with the glass," Isabel said breaking the uncomfortable silence.  
  
Max healed Michael's hand and sat next to Liz, who looked anxious to say something, but kept quiet. Valenti was the first to speak.  
  
"After Michael left I took a walk around looking for something. What I found was a set of tire tracks leading out of the alley away from the back exit. I just need to analysis the tracks and maybe we could find out the kind of vehicle this person was driving."  
  
"And then what?" Liz asked.  
  
"Finding the possible vehicles and going from there."  
  
"That seems like that will take a long time Dad."  
  
"It could take a while, but we could also get lucky and stumble across a very specific type of vehicle. Really the main thing that I'm counting on right now is the three of you. We have so little to go on, and if we're assuming that this is alien related you guys are our best bet."  
  
"Alright then, the first thing we need to do is get as clear of a picture we can of what happened, something along the lines of a timeline of events." Max said taking control of the meeting.  
  
"The Crashdown opens at six thirty so did Maria come about six?" Isabel asked.  
  
"During the week we open at six thirty, on the weekends we open at seven." Liz answered.  
  
"Maria came in at about six twenty, she was early. Max and I left about five minutes after that."  
  
"When I got here it was a quarter to seven." Sheriff Valenti added.  
  
Max turned and spoke directly to Michael. "What time was it when you got a feeling that Maria was in trouble?"  
  
"I didn't look at the clock Maxwell."  
  
"How long would you say it took you to get here from you apartment?"  
  
"I don't know, less than ten minutes. What exactly is all this going to accomplish? While we're all here playing detective Maria is out there somewhere. Isabel, could you try and dreamwalk her? We could at least see if she's okay even if she doesn't know where she is."  
  
"What do you mean see if she's okay? Can't you tell if Maria's alright?" Liz asked sharply.  
  
Michael began to stare off again looking in the direction of the lockers, Maria's locker.  
  
"Michael can't right now." Isabel answered.  
  
"You mean she could be dead?" Liz screeched.  
  
At the sound of the word dead various objects in the room started to shake. Pictures began falling of the walls, the locker doors flew open allowing all of their contents to spill out and, if possible, Michael became paler than he was when he first came in.  
  
"Michael calm down." Isabel said in a soothing voice. "No Liz, Maria's not dead. Michael would know if she was."  
  
"But you said that he couldn't tell if she was ok."  
  
"I know what I said." Isabel said this in a very final way indicating that she was not going to say anymore on the subject.  
  
"Michael, I'll try and dreamwalk Maria right now. Liz could I go upstairs, it's a little intense down here."  
  
"Yeah sure."  
  
Isabel walked over to the lockers and immediately spotted Maria's. It was the only one left intact. Opening it up she took a picture from inside the door.  
  
"Would you like to come with me?" Isabel said addressing Michael. He did not say a word but just followed her up the stairs.  
  
Isabel chose to go to the guest room rather than Liz's bedroom. After settling on the bed she placed her hand on the image of Maria. She was surprised by how easily she got into the dream. Walking around she spotted what looked like a cage and in the middle of the cage sat Maria. She had her legs crossed and actually looked like she was meditating. She did not notice Isabel's approach, until her name was called.  
  
"What are you doing here Isabel?"  
  
"What does it look like? I'm looking for you."  
  
"You shouldn't have come. It's too dangerous."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean that right now my mind is not my own."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"Yes you do. I'm locked in a cage. I'm completely alone here. I don't get to dream normal dreams while I sleep, if that's even what I'm doing. I don't feel anything."  
  
"That's the same thing that Michael said."  
  
Maria closed her eyes before she spoke. "How's he doing?"  
  
"Not good."  
  
Maria just nodded. "I don't know where I am. When I regained consciousness I was in a room with a mat on the floor. There are no distinguishing marks anywhere in the here. And when I tried to reach out to Michael I kept hitting a wall. I wanted him to know that I was okay."  
  
Suddenly the room began to change, the lights dimmed and Isabel could barely make out Maria's face.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"I think you overstayed your welcome. Whoever's keeping me here doesn't want you here. You better leave before it's too late."  
  
"Maria wait."  
  
"I don't want you trapped her too. Tell Michael I love him and that I'm not afraid."  
  
"But you are."  
  
"He doesn't need to know that. Go! Now!"  
  
As easily as Isabel had walked in Maria's dream she was kicked out of it just as easily. She sat up abruptly in the bed and saw Michael looking at her.  
  
"She's okay, but we need to find her and fast. There's something really strange going on."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Whoever has her is blocking your connections. That's why you couldn't feel her and she can't feel you either."  
  
"Did she give you any clue to where she might be?"  
  
Isabel shook her head. "I'm sorry Michael. I had to get out of her dream because she said I could get trapped there. I wish I could give you more but I can't right now."  
  
Michael stood up and walked to the door.  
  
"She told me to tell you that she loved you. She also said that she's not afraid."  
  
"Thanks Is," Michael said quietly. "But, you know, you were never a good liar."  
  
Michael walked out of the door and out of the Crashdown ignoring the looks he got from the others. He needed to clear his head and he knew he would not be able to do that with everyone wondering what he would blow up next. He decided to go to their place. No matter how painful it was. It was the only place he could go.  
  
*Somewhere in Roswell*  
  
Maria woke up from her dream just as she heard the door open. She had not been completely honest with Isabel. She could not tell Isabel where she was because she could not see where she was. The room that she was in was completely black with no light whatsoever, even when the door opened. She heard footsteps approach her and she turned toward the sound.  
  
"What am I doing here?"  
  
No answer.  
  
"Why am I here?"  
  
No answer.  
  
Maria reached out and tried to touch whoever was in the room with her, but was met with emptiness.  
  
"Tisk, tisk. You should not be doing that. I have no desire to be touched by the likes of you, nor have you look upon me. While your eyes need even the smallest amount of light to see, my eyes can see everything perfectly without it."  
  
She did not recognize the voice that spoke to her.  
  
"Do I get to know why I'm here?"  
  
"For now we will call this a research exercise."  
  
"A research exercise?" Maria said louder than she planned to. "What's so special about me?"  
  
"You're more like the catalyst of the project."  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"It means that you are not who we are researching." 


	4. Part 4

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I don't own a thing. This ain't mine.  
  
Author's Note: This is the Sequel to Pride and Joy and Pain. It needed one because nothing really got resolved in that fic. So here's my chance to explain why everything happened the way that it did, and of course to give you a peek into the "new" life Maria and Michael are living.  
  
I want to first apologize for the horribly long break in between updates. I really didn't do it on purpose. All kinds of crazy stuff got in the way, but it over with so I'm going to update a lot more regularly. I hope that you enjoy this part.  
  
Thanks to Keyo, astacia, trickhayden for reviewing chapter 3 your questions will kind of be answered in this chapter.

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/

**Santa Fe**  
  
"I swear these conventions seem to get longer every year. Do we really need a whole five days to learn about the healing power of crystals and aromatherapy?"  
  
"Melissa, weren't you the one who begged me to come with you?" Amy asked.  
  
A woman who looked to be in her late fifties turned and shushed the pair before turning around to listen to the speaker.  
  
"That was before I knew that we'd have speakers like "Ben Stein" up there for most of the convention," Melissa whispered motioning towards the stage.  
  
"We could always leave," Amy responded.  
  
The woman turned again. "Why don't you go ahead and do that. Some of us are actually trying to hear what is being said."  
  
"Sorry, we wouldn't want to wake anyone." Melissa said.  
  
"Let's get out of here," Amy said trying to hide the smile on her face.  
  
They walked out of the room and Melissa stopped abruptly.  
  
"Let's get something to eat. We can go to that café up the street."  
  
"What about the other lectures?" Amy asked.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Besides we have some catching up to do."  
  
Amy and Melissa drove to the café. When they were seated they both ordered coffee.  
  
"So Amy what's been going on? We haven't been able to really talk for about a couple of weeks now."  
  
Amy had been dreading this discussion since she arrived in Santa Fe. She had spoken to Melissa since Maria moved out, but she had purposely kept the conversations very short. She knew that any mention of her troubles with Maria would remind Melissa of her own daughter. The problem was that being face to face made it almost impossible to keep their exchange short and to the point.  
  
"Not much has been going on."  
  
"Really?" Melissa asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because the whole time we've been here you've been a bit, I don't know, distracted."  
  
"It's nothing really."  
  
"Come on Amy. It's me you're dealing with. I can tell when something is going on. You're definitely not telling me everything."  
  
"I got into an argument with Maria, that's it. It's not a big deal."  
  
"At this age any argument that you have with your daughter is a big deal!"  
  
"Melissa, it really was nothing."  
  
"How can you be sure? It's one of the clear signs. First the two of you will argue and the next thing you know Maria will be moving in with that boyfriend of hers."  
  
Amy choked on her coffee as this was said. "What do you mean a clear sign? All daughters and mothers fight. It's a part of the whole growing up process."  
  
Melissa grabbed Amy's hand. "Amy, I can only speak from my own experience. My daughter started fights with me to try and cover up her problems. When I got fed up I gave her an ultimatum, she took it as her cue to move in with her no good boyfriend. And that's when things really took a turn for the worse. The drugs and the stealing got worse, she got arrested, and I had to bail her out. When I asked her what was going on she told me that I wouldn't understand. So you won't ever be able to convince me that a fight is just a fight."  
  
"That's not how it works for everyone," Amy said trying to keep her voice from shaking.  
  
"You're right. I'm sorry Amy, I really didn't mean to upset you."  
  
"I'm not upset. I didn't want to bring up Maria and remind you of your own situation. I can assure you that I'm fine and Maria is fine."  
  
"Why does it sound like you're trying to convince yourself? And why do you look ten shades paler?"  
  
"When did you become so perceptive?" Amy asked feeling her resolve failing.  
  
"I think it was yesterday after the lecture about opening yourself up to the world around you. Seriously, I just want to help you out. We're friends and you shouldn't have to worry about talking about something because it might upset me."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes really, now shoot. I know that it has something to do with Maria.  
  
"I told you about Maria's boyfriend Michael, and how things with us have changed since they've been together. About a month ago I decided that enough was enough and I told her that she couldn't see him anymore."  
  
"Good for you. It's important to put your foot down in a situation like that."  
  
"Not so good. I was really angry and I made her choose, Maria didn't pick me. We haven't spoken since."  
  
"You haven't spoken at all?"  
  
"Not a word, but I can't say that it's all Maria's fault. I just don't have much to say to her right now. I love her and miss her, but I just won't accept that she wants to throw her life away for some boy."  
  
"So what's going on with her now?"  
  
"I honestly couldn't tell you. My friend Jim has her singing in his country-western band and that's all I really know. And Jim is upset with me, because he says that I'm acting immature about the whole situation."  
  
"I don't think you're being immature. You're putting your foot down, showing your authority. It's important to make Maria know who's the boss."  
  
"I hope you're right."  
  
"If I would have done those things maybe I would still have some semblance of a relationship with my own daughter."  
  
"We should probably talk about something else."  
  
"No, it's better to get all of this out now. Don't worry about me I'm fine. Tell me more about Maria and this boyfriend she chose over you."  
  
Melissa and Amy talked for what seemed like hours about anything and everything Maria, from the time she first met Michael to every detail of the fight that led to her moving out.  
  
"I feel so much better. I haven't talked to anyone about this stuff before today," Amy said with a sigh. "After hearing all of that do you still think I was right in my decision?"  
  
"Absolutely. Did you ever find out where Maria went when she took those trips with Michael?"  
  
"Only once, when she went to Arizona. She told me that they were visiting a relative of Michael's. For all I know that could have been another lie. I didn't even think that he knew any of his relatives."  
  
"Right, he was in the foster care system."  
  
"Yeah. Wait, how did you know that?"  
  
"You told me a while back."  
  
"Oh, it must have slipped my mind."  
  
"Amy are you ready to go? We could still make one more seminar before the day is over."  
  
Amy shook her head. "Will it be as boring as the last one?"  
  
"I don't think so. It sounds interesting if for nothing more than a good laugh."  
  
"What's the topic?"  
  
Melissa looked as thought she was going to laugh and did giggle a little before she gave her reply.  
  
"It's about the possibility of the crystals on earth being brought here by aliens from another planet."

/

Michael raged at the sky, the rocks, and anything else around him for an hour straight. He knew that if he was going to get Maria back he had to be in total control of everything, which included his powers. But his emotions had too much to do with how and when they worked. He didn't realize until this moment how almost completely dependent he had become on his connection with Maria. The connection allowed them to balance each other out. Whenever he was upset about something she would send him feelings of calm until that was all he felt. Without her he knew that nothing would be right until they were together again. When things stopped randomly blowing up around him, he knew it was time to go back. He needed to start thinking of a plan that would bring Maria back to him.  
  
The Crashdown closed and everyone decided to wait for Michael at his place. To say that the overall mood of the room was dismal would have been an improvement on the actual frame of mind that everyone was in. The group knew everything that happened inside of Maria's dreamwalk. No one was speaking. They were just sitting around in various places looking expectantly at each other as if one of them had the answer to their problem. Liz excused herself twice already not wanting to cry in front of the group.  
  
"I can't stand this waiting," Isabel said standing up then sitting back down. "We should start trying to find a way to get Maria back."  
  
"The only thing that we can do now is to try and dreamwalk Maria again," Max said.  
  
Everyone nodded in agreement, because it was the most logical idea.  
  
"Then we're back to waiting until Michael gets here." Isabel spoke with a voice drenched with frustration.  
  
"Why do we have to wait? The longer we sit here doing nothing, the more danger Maria could be in." Liz said nearly shouting.  
  
"It wouldn't be right to do anything without Michael here," Valenti answered.  
  
"I'm here now so you can fill me in on what would be wrong to do without me," Michael said surprising everyone with his sudden appearance.  
  
"Is everything under control?" Max asked Michael.  
  
"I'm handling it. I was thinking that we should try to dreamwalk Maria again," Michael answered. His complete subject change from his powers to Maria did not go unnoticed.  
  
"That's what all of us were thinking." Isabel stated "There's something that's been bothering me since I first dreamwalked Maria. What could block your connection with her? Does distance have an affect on the way it works?"  
  
"I don't think so, but I can't be sure. I could still feel her when I went to Santa Fe-" Michael stopped all of a sudden. It was like being slammed against a wall of fear, anger, restlessness, and extreme boredom, then an overwhelming feeling of confusion at first and finally excitement.  
  
"What is it Michael?" Isabel asked concern written all over her face.  
  
"Maria."  
  
**Somewhere in Roswell**  
  
"Michael," Maria whispered softly.  
  
She allowed his emotions wash over her. They had come so abruptly it made her head swim and the intensity of them was enough to knock her over if she had not been on the floor already. He was angry, impatient, and lonely. She could tell he was struggling to keep control, but just as quickly as she received those feeling they changed to boiling mix if joy, concern, and determination. She realized that he could feel her too. Maria immediately sent every ounce of love and calm that she could muster, while love and relief was simultaneously sent her way.  
  
Maria was enjoying the familiarity of their connection when she started to receive feelings that she recognized as the ones that Michael sent her whenever she had trouble sleeping. She realized what he was trying to tell her. She rested on her mat and closed her eyes. It was not long before she felt herself drifting off.

/

"Maria's asleep now." Michael informed the group  
  
The entire energy of the room changed when he said he could feel Maria again. He was bombarded with questions mostly the same ones over and over. Everyone wanted to know if she was okay, and if she knew where she was. He was to wrapped up in his renewed bond he paid them all very little attention. Isabel was the one who brought him back and had him try to get Maria to sleep.  
  
"You're sure she's sleeping?" Liz asked.  
  
"Positive." Michael answered.  
  
"Good, Michael will come with me to the bedroom. The sooner I can get in and out, the sooner we'll be able to find Maria."  
  
Michael followed Isabel and watched her settle into his bed. She held a picture of Maria and was closing her eyes when they snapped open again.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I don't think I need the picture." Isabel said.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because you're here. I think that the connection you have is strong enough for me to get to her without the picture. It might even work better. Plus I was planning on bringing you with me this time. I'm just cutting out the middleman. Come lay next to me."  
  
Michael did as he was told.  
  
"Try to relax." As Isabel said this, she grabbed on to Michael's hand. The next thing she knew she was in a bar where the stage was brightly lit, Maria was in the middle of a song that was obviously her own. The entire audience was in awe, they where swaying to the song and a couple was even dancing. Isabel looked over to see that Michael did not look the least bit surprised by the scene in front of him. He saw how closely Isabel was watching him.  
  
"I've been in this dream a couple of times," Michael said with a shrug. "It's never the same song though.  
  
"I thought that you couldn't dreamwalk."  
  
"It only works sometimes. Mostly when she wants me here. She's pulled me into a couple of her dreams."  
  
"When did she do that? How did she do that?"  
  
"She's done it since we've lived together and I don't know how. Isabel, could we try and figure this out another time? Maria just finished her song and is walking towards us."  
  
"What took you guys so long?"  
  
"You've only been asleep for five minutes," Isabel said slightly put off.  
  
"Sorry, it just didn't feel like only five minutes," Maria said hoping she had not offended Isabel too much.  
  
Throughout the quick exchange Maria had yet to look at Michael. She was trying to be strong and keep up appearances, but she knew as soon she looked into his deep, chocolate brown eyes everything would come out without her having to say a single word. Of course she knew that Michael could feel her anxiety.  
  
"I'm going to leave you two alone," Isabel said feeling something, though she was not sure what. As they watched her walk to the other side of the room, Maria felt Michael lace her fingers with his. Her lips formed into a small smile.  
  
"Maria." Michael whispered, his lips just inches from her ear.  
  
She finally faced him. She studied his every feature as if trying to memorize what was already a permanent part of her psyche.  
  
"We should probably sit," she finally spoke.  
  
They sat down in the nearest booth side by side. Maria looked down at their hands before she spoke.  
  
"I miss you so much, and I'm doing my best to try and find out anything I can to help you guys get me out of wherever I am."  
  
"You don't have to act like this for me, you know that right? We agreed to always be honest with each other, didn't we?"  
  
"Yes, I know. I was just trying to protect you like you protect me."  
  
"Protecting each other is different than lying to each other."  
  
"I know."  
  
"How are you really?"  
  
"I think about the same as you except I'm here and you're out there." Michael simply nodded his head in understanding. "How's everyone out there?"  
  
"Everyone's waiting around at this point."  
  
Maria understood what he meant and did not press any further.  
  
"Is there anything that you can tell me about where you are, or who has you?"  
  
"I can't tell where I am because it's always dark. There's never ever any light." Maria felt anger rising in his chest and quickly sent calm to Michael. "Don't worry it makes it easier to sleep. I've only spoken to whoever has me once, it was definitely a man and he kind of talks like a robot. Everything he says is in a monotone voice."  
  
"What did this guy talk to you about?"  
  
"He told me I was part of an experiment, but that I wasn't the one being researched."  
  
"He's researching me, Max and Isabel?"  
  
"I'm not really sure, but probably."  
  
"Did he say anything else? Anything at all?"  
  
"He said something about my eyes, that I need light to see but he can see perfectly without it. And that was all he said to me."  
  
"How is he treating you?"  
  
"He doesn't really bother me and he gave me food once already, but I don't really trust him so I didn't touch it."  
  
"You need to eat. I don't think that he would have taken you to poison you. I'm not sure how long it will take us to get you out," he said in a quiet voice.  
  
Maria leaned against Michael and took a deep breath. "You'll get me out as soon as you can. I'm not worried. I'm more worried about who "he" is and why he might be researching you guys."  
  
"Shh, enough worry."  
  
They sat quietly in each other's company and the feeling of completeness that they got only when they were together when everything suddenly changed. Maria sat up and looked at Michael.  
  
"I think it's time for you to go." She said, her voice shaking. Their connection was unexpectedly broken.  
  
"Isabel, it's time to go." Michael called  
  
"Why, what's going on?"  
  
"I'll explain later."  
  
Isabel hugged Maria, Michael kissed her goodbye and then they were both back on his bed.  
  
"Why did we have to leave like that?"  
  
"The connection is gone again."  
  
"Just like that?"  
  
Michael nodded as he sat on the edge of the bed.  
  
"Did Maria have any more information?" Isabel asked as she stood up.  
  
"She was taken because of me, because of what I am."  
  
"Did she say that?"  
  
"She didn't use those words, but I'm the reason she's gone. The man took her as a part of an experiment of some kind because he's researching us." 


	5. Part 5

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I don't own a thing. This ain't mine.  
  
Author's Note: This is the Sequel to Pride and Joy and Pain. It needed one because nothing really got resolved in that fic. So here's my chance to explain why everything happened the way that it did, and of course to give you a peek into the "new" life Maria and Michael are living.

**I wanted to let everybody know that this chapter will answer a few more questions. So Welcome Back to Roswell where all the new visitors get free 'I've Been Abducted' t-shirts!!!**

  
**Somewhere in Roswell**  
  
"I hope that was enjoyable for you."  
  
Maria sat up on her mat. She turned and faced where the voice was coming from.  
  
"Did you sleep through your entwining?"  
  
"What in the hell are you talking about?" Maria yelled not worrying about any repercussion that might result from raising her voice.  
  
"I allowed the binding to your _am-oreby_," the Man said.  
  
"My what?"  
  
"Your _am-oreby_. The closest English equivalent is mate."  
  
"Michael? You're blocking us?"  
  
"I thought that you would have already figured that out."  
  
"But why? How?"  
  
"I do not think that you are in a position to ask questions."  
  
"And what position would that be? I'm on the floor in the dark talking to someone who likes to make up words."  
  
The temperature in the room dropped unexpectedly. Maria was sure that if she could see her breath would be visible. She wrapped her arms around herself, a futile gesture.  
  
"You will not disrespect the language of a people far more advanced than your own. If you choose to continue your attempts at banter I will be forced to silence you by removing your vocal chords. I am sure that you do not want that considering how much you take pleasure in conversation."  
  
The room returned to its previous temperature but Maria could not stop shivering. For once she was actually glad that Michael was unable to feel her emotions, because the sheer terror that she felt was crippling. She finally knew exactly who or rather what she was dealing with. Her mind was racing. How could she have not realized that the Man was not human? It really was the only explanation for everything, but before this very moment she would not allow herself to accept it.  
  
"I will now tolerate the questions that I know you have, within reason of course."  
  
It was hard for Maria to find her voice and when she finally did, it came out as a whisper. "Who are you?"  
  
"I am called Kheive by my people. I am the leader of a contingent sent to this planet by Lord Khivar."  
  
'This just keeps getting better and better,' Maria thought.  
  
"I am very sure that you want to know more than that. While I am in an agreeable mood you should take advantage, because it does not happen very often."  
  
"Why am I here?"  
  
"I told you previously, to act as a catalyst for an experiment."  
  
"But why me?"  
  
"I have been searching for the Antarian Royals for almost sixty planetary revolutions. You are the reason that I was able to find at least one, your _am-oreby_. The bond that you share is rare and I would have thought it impossible to occur on this planet with your species." Kheive sneered.  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"I did not think that you would. I will try to speak slow enough to facilitate your comprehension. I was sent to this planet because of my strong presence of mind. I can use my mind to manipulate situations in ways that I see fit."  
  
"You can mindwarp?"  
  
"I do not understand that word? What is this mindwarp?"  
  
Maria thought quickly, she did not want to give away too much information that could potentially hurt Michael and the others.  
  
"On this TV show I used to watch they used that term to describe the psychic's powers."  
  
"That would not be the proper term for my talents. Along with cerebral manipulation I can sense certain unique mental signatures, which includes your bond. I was able to isolate your exact signature and through you I located a member of the Royals that have eluded me for so long."  
  
The number of questions that were already swirling inside of Maria's head doubled with all the new information that was given to her. It was very important that she carefully worded the questions she wanted to ask. So far the only thing that she could think about was getting away from the black hole that she was in, but now all her thoughts were on Michael and how much danger he could be in. Finding out all that Kheive knew about Michael, Max, and Isabel was the most important thing she could do right now.  
  
"I still don't understand. Why do you think that my boyfriend is who you're looking for? I've known him most of my life, and he's definitely not royal."  
  
"Silly girl. I am exceedingly meticulous when it comes to my mission. I have been observing the two of you for some time now. There is no doubt, I have found one of the Royals."  
  
"You've been watching us? For how long?"  
  
"That is of no importance to you."  
  
The thought of this man watching her was a disturbing one for Maria. She began replaying every intimate moment she spent with Michael and the notion of a stranger witnessing those moments was sickening. There were things that she shared with him that even Liz had no knowledge of. The invasion of her privacy was more than upsetting, it was infuriating.  
  
"I've grown tired of this. You may ask one more question before I leave you."  
  
Still in the process of calming herself down, Maria asked her question. "What is the experiment exactly? What does it involve?"  
  
"That was two questions, but because they were the most important of all of your inquires I will answer them. I am planning to test the abilities of you _am-oreby_, and finding any if not all of his weaknesses, torturing him for information about the other Royals, and then I am going to kill him. Now I must be off, there is other business I must attend to. It would be wise for you to consume the next meal that is placed before you. If I planned you any harm I would have already done so."  
  
Maria heard retreating footsteps and then total silence. She was left alone with the knowledge that she was essentially the bait that could lead to the end of her world. She refused to entertain the thought of anything bad happening to Michael and the others. They were her family, and she would die rather than to let someone use her to hurt any of them.  
  
'Enough of this,' Maria thought. 'I might not be able to see anything, but I'm going to find out all that I can about this room.'  
  
**Santa Fe**  
  
"I want everyone to close their eyes and take a deep cleansing breath, in, one, two, three, and out, three, two, one. Clear your minds and hold the amethyst that were handed to you in the beginning of this lecture in you power hand. Amethysts are often called the stone of contentment because they help to bring serenity. Concentrate on your breathing, in and out, nice and even. Allow the calming effects of this stone to wash over you. Let go of any negativity that may be suppressing your spiritual growth. The beautiful thing about amethysts is they attract and even amplify positive energy. Nice even breaths, in and out, in and out. Now open you minds and allow inspiration to come to you. Think about any idea or project that you're working on that has gotten stagnant. Let the ideas come to you, remember we're still breathing nice deep breaths, nice even exchange of air. All right, I'd like everyone to slowly, slowly begin to stretch his or her limbs. Think about exactly what you're doing, feel the pull of each muscle as you slowly awaken that part of your body. Don't forget steady breathing, in and out. When you finish stretching you may open your eyes. Does everyone feel calmer now than they did before they stepped into this room?"  
  
There were several answers in the affirmative from the crowd.  
  
"I thought so, it really is amazing what you could do with things that are provided freely for you from the earth. Today I offer you a chance to provide this service yourself. For the price of $89.98 you can purchase my book featuring detailed instructions on how to meditate with several different stones or crystals to achieve your desired effect. You'll also get an amethyst and a tape or CD with calming music. You can pay at the door and I accept Visa, MasterCard, and checks with two forms of identification. Thanks to you all and have a wonderful day."  
  
Amy and Melissa headed towards the door; they were stopped by the speaker and could not leave until both of their amethysts were accounted for.  
  
"Amy you should get her book, that would be great for you. You could hold demonstrations in your store."  
  
"I'm not paying ninety bucks for something I do perfectly well on my own. There is nothing in her book that I haven't already read about meditation. Plus I have about twenty books on the different powers of crystals. All she really did was tell us to keep a steady breathing pattern, and she kept messing mine up with her constant 'in and out, in and out'. It was really getting annoying. As for the music I already have Enya's CD."  
  
"Whoa, "the stone of contentment" obviously didn't work for someone."  
  
"Sorry Melissa, I'm a little preoccupied. I head back to Roswell tomorrow and I've decided to talk to Maria. I'm not sure what to say, but I have to get the ball rolling, I miss her."  
  
"Are you sure that you're ready for that?"  
  
"Not this minute but by the time I get home I hopefully will be."  
  
"Maybe you should wait for her to come to you, talk to her on your own terms. That will be much easier than you chasing her down to talk."  
  
"But she did try to talk to me many times. I was the one who avoided her."  
  
"So since she came to you before, why would you think that she wouldn't come now? She will come Amy, I'm sure of it, but you really should wait. Right now you're a little too emotional, and if she says or does something that upsets you, you could push her further away."  
  
"Maybe you're right. I definitely need to gain a little more balance on the situation before we talk."  
  
"Balance would be good, you nearly bit my head off back there." Melissa said with a smile.  
  
"I said that I was sorry. So when are you heading out?"  
  
"Tonight actually, I have to be back to work in the morning, but I promise to call you when I get in."  
  
"How about I call you, I'm leaving before the sun so I'll need all the sleep I can get. Do you want to go get something to eat before you head out?"  
  
"I would love to, but I wanted to get a couple of hours of snooze time before I hit the road. You're not mad at me are you?"  
  
"Of course not. That means I can get even more rest myself. So I guess this is goodbye then."  
  
"Guess so."  
  
The two embraced.  
  
"Amy you can call me whenever you need. You do know that, right?"  
  
"Yes, mom I know that. The same goes for you. See you later sweetie."  
  
"Bye-bye."  
  
Amy headed out to where she parked and drove to the hotel she was staying in. She packed up everything that she would not need for the morning, which just left some clothes and her toiletries out. She ordered a sandwich from room service and ate it while she watched the news. The only thing to do now was to sleep but for some reason it would not come. Tossing and turning constantly was all that she could do. Looking at the clock on the nightstand it read two minutes after twelve.  
  
'If I don't get to sleep soon I'll be no good for the drive home. Go to sleep,' she ordered herself. When sleep finally came it was filled with disturbing dreams. The dreams were dark, scary but basically unclear. When she woke up she was unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong. The entire ride to Roswell was unsettling and the closer she got, the worse the feeling. 'What's going on with me?' She kept asking herself.  
  
When Amy got home it was nearly noon. At first she thought she needed a nap, maybe she felt so strangely because she was tired. Finally being honest with herself she knew what was bothering her, but for some strange reason she could not acknowledge it. She had to talk to Maria; every cell in her body seemed to know it. The strange thing was that something was keeping her from getting in her car and driving over to see her. Every time she would make up her mind to do it something would make her second guess herself. Finally Amy got tired of her internal struggle, she grabbed her key and got in the Jetta. She drove to Michael's apartment with one thing on her mind; she had to see her daughter.  
  
**Somewhere in Roswell**  
  
The darkness caused Maria to stay very close to her floor mat because she did not want to get lost in the room. That was before and now everything was completely different. She was not going to sit idly by and let Kheive use her to get to Michael. Standing up with her arms stretched out in front she stepped away from the mat. Placing one foot exactly in front of the other she counted every step until she finally reached a wall. Walking back to her mat she repeated the process from the remaining three sides of the mat.  
  
'Someone's anal.' Maria thought.  
  
She was placed precisely in the middle of the room; thirteen steps from the wall on the first two sides and nine steps from the wall on the other two. Math was definitely not Maria's favorite subject but she certainly was never more thankful for it than at this very moment.  
  
"Okay DeLuca this is basic math. I wear a size seven so I just need to multiply that by thirteen and nine. Okay nine times seven is sixty-three and thirteen times seven is ninety-one. What do I have to do now? I should have paid more attention in class. I already multiplied now I have to divide both numbers by twelve. What I wouldn't give for a pencil and a piece of paper and some light. Sixty is the closest I can get and that five and twelve, the next closest number is seventy-two, no eighty-four and that's seven. Now all I have to do is double those numbers ten and fourteen. Wow that wasn't too hard. So this room is about ten feet by fourteen feet give or take, and a little more than that because I didn't count the mat. All of this must really be getting to me because I have officially had a conversation all by myself."  
  
After Maria finished her discussion with herself, she went to work examining the room. She could not use her eyes to see the room, but she could use her hands to provide her mind's eye with some kind of picture.

"Michael do you want me to get the door?"  
  
Sheriff Valenti was talking to Michael, but he was only half listening. He hating sitting around surrounded by everyone except the person that he needed the most. What he hated more than that was that he was no closer to bringing Maria home than he was when this first started, almost two days ago.  
  
"Michael?"  
  
"Yeah just tell whoever's there to get lost."  
  
Everyone was still at Michael's, no one really wanted to go home, and no on thought it was a good idea to leave Michael alone. Michael, on the other hand, was extremely irritated that the group felt that he needed a babysitter.  
  
Sheriff Valenti answered the door and was stunned speechless. Amy DeLuca stood in front of him. He was proud and mortified all at the same time.  
  
"Amy, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Well, Jim I could ask you the same question."  
  
"I was just in the neighborhood and decided to drop by."  
  
"What a coincidence, I was in the neighborhood too. Can you let me past so that I can talk to my daughter."  
  
"Maria?"  
  
"Of course, unless I had another daughter without my knowing."  
  
Jim laughed nervously. "The thing is Maria's not here right now. Maybe you want to come back at another time."  
  
"I'm here now so why don't I wait here for her."  
  
"I don't know if that's a good idea. It's not like this is my place, I can't just let you in."  
  
"We don't want anything that you're selling, get the hell away from my door!" Michael shouted.  
  
"I'm not selling anything, I just want to see Maria." Amy shouted back.  
  
Michael was immediately on his feet and within a few quick strides he was at the door. "Ms. DeLuca, Maria's not here, but when she comes back I'll be sure to let her know that you came by." Michael was in the process of closing the door when Amy forced her way inside.  
  
"I'm sure you won't mind if I wait for her here."  
  
"Actually I do mind you barging into my apartment."  
  
"Excuse me? I'm here to see my child. Who are you to stop me?"  
  
"I'm not trying to stop you, I would just appreciate it if you'd come back at another time."  
  
"I'm not going to come back at another time! I have a right to be here!"  
  
"Amy there's no need to yell," Jim said trying to de-escalate the situation.  
  
Michael looked at him and just shook his head. "I can handle this. What right do you have to be here? Where were you last month, two weeks ago, or even a few days ago? Where were you when Maria was crying herself to sleep because you wouldn't answer any of her calls? And what about those times she went to see you and you wouldn't even open the door! You changed the locks in your house! So really, what right do you have to be here!"  
  
"How dare you speak to me like that! What happens between me and Maria is my business!"  
  
"It's my business when you hurt the woman that I love!"  
  
"Love! What do you know about love! I carried her for nine months! I nursed her when she was sick! You just showed up one day and everything changed, Maria changed! You changed her! You made her lie to me and disappeared with her for days at a time! What you know about love I could fit into a teaspoon!"  
  
"You don't know anything about me! Don't tell me about my feelings!"  
  
"Your feelings! Your Feelings! What about Maria's feelings! I've heard her crying in her room, more times than I want to mention, over you! You're such a hypocrite attempting to lecture me about pain I've caused Maria when you're the only one here who's broken her heart!"  
  
"That's bullshit and you know it! Yes in the past I wasn't all that I should've been for Maria and I'll always regret hurting her. But all I wanted to do was protect her! You ripped your own daughter's heart out of her chest and then kept running it over with your car! What's your reason!"  
  
"I'll do whatever I have to do to get her away from you!"  
  
"And I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep you from hurting her!"  
  
"That's enough from the both of you. This screaming isn't helping anything." Jim said stepping in between the two, who were dangerously close to one another.  
  
Michael stepped back and noticed that they had attracted a crowed. Max, Isabel, Liz, and Kyle all looked too shocked to speak. They had witnessed most of the argument and now just stood watching and waiting to see what would happen next.  
  
"Amy, please come back at another time. Things are tense right now." Jim pleaded.  
  
"Jim, you're going to have to arrest me because I am not moving until I see my daughter!"  
  
"No, you should go now! Get the hell out of my house!"  
  
"Not until I see Maria!"  
  
Sheriff Valenti looked from Michael to Amy and could clearly see the fire that was behind both of their eyes. And when the lights started to flicker he himself backed slightly away from the scene.  
  
"Michael, try and calm down. I'll take care of this and you could go into the bedroom with Max."  
  
"NO!" Michael shouted and all the lights in the apartment blew out.  
  
**Somewhere in Roswell**  
  
Maria spent the last couple of hours touching every part of all four walls in the room that she could reach. She even screamed to see what kind of an echo that she heard, and from the sound that came back to her she reasoned that the ceiling was marginally high. All but one of the walls had windows that were boarded up. The last wall had a door that was made of some kind of metal. Tracing her fingers along uniform gaps in the walls, it felt like they were made of large cement blocks that were painted over. She definitely had a picture of the room inside of her head. Hopefully it would be of some help. Right now she was back on her mat going over more questions that she planned to ask Kheive if she was allowed.  
  
"It really is no fun being trapped somewhere and not being able to find a way out, isn't it? I mean I can totally identify with the feeling. I've been trapped on this miserable planet for far too long. The only thing that is keeping me here is my mission, to destroy the Antarian Royals, the Royal Four as they are called. As soon as I can complete my mission I get to go home. But here's the problem, I don't know where the Royals are with the exception of your beatnik boyfriend. If you want to ever get out of here I suggest you tell me everything that I need to know."  
  
"I'm not telling you anything. Who are you anyway, because you're certainly not Kheive?"  
  
"Wow you're perceptive. What tipped you off, is it the fact that Kheive is a male and I'm not?"  
  
"If you're trying to be funny you should really stop. You're not good at it, and you didn't answer my question."  
  
"Kheive was right, you are a defiant little thing aren't you? My name is Taralah. For some reason you earth people have a problem saying that so you can call me what the rest of you kind does."  
  
"Oh okay, I can call you bitch then?"  
  
"Don't think that because I've allowed you to say as much as you've wanted to thus far that I can't do to you whatever I see fit. I could cut those pretty lips of yours right off your face and send them to you boyfriend. I'm sure he'd love that.  
  
"The constant threats of violence are getting old."  
  
"That's some big talk for someone so small. You're not fooling me though. I can hear the fear in your voice. But I have to admit if we had met under different circumstances you and I might have gotten along. Where has my mind gone, you did ask me a question. What was that again?"  
  
"What I should call you?" Maria replied reigning in the insolence in her voice.  
  
"That's right, my name. Melissa, you can call me Melissa." 


	6. Part 6

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I don't own a thing. This ain't mine.

Author's Note: This is the Sequel to Pride and Joy and Pain. It needed one because nothing really got resolved in that fic. So here's my chance to explain why everything happened the way that it did, and of course to give you a peek into the "new" life Maria and Michael are living.

"Another blackout, what is that like the third one this week? Michael you should really get an electrician out here to find out what the problem is." Max spoke.

The argument with Amy was too much for Michael to handle. He was already having a hard enough time trying to keep his powers under control around all of his friends, but with the screaming match that had just taken place it was impossible. He felt the surges of energy throughout the entire confrontation. What sent him over the edge was the familiarity of the whole thing. It was obvious to anyone who knew the DeLuca women that they were almost exactly alike. Maria possessed the same fire and stubbornness Amy was displaying right now.

Michael knew that it was useless to argue with Amy, because she was not going to budge until she got what she wanted. Maria was the same way. Basically, arguing with Amy was just like arguing with Maria and he did not need one more thing reminding him that he was away from her.

"Max, why don't you and Kyle take Michael out back and have him show you where the fuse box is. Maybe we were just running too many things in here and shorted something out." Sheriff Valenti instructed.

Luckily it was still the middle of the day so it was not completely dark inside of the apartment. Max and Kyle dragged Michael out of the room.

"Michael, what were you thinking? I can't believe that you used your powers in front of Maria's mom." Max said in a reasonably calm voice.

"I don't think that it was intentional Max. Michael, I'm surprised that the lights were the only things that exploded. You held it together longer than I would have, besides I doubt that Ms. DeLuca even knows what happened." Kyle said.

"First of all, I don't need a lecture from you Maxwell, or moral support from you Kyle. I can deal with this on my own."

"All I was doing was trying to help, Buddha says-," Kyle started.

"Don't quote that Buddhist crap to me. I'm really not in the mood. I know that I lost it in there, it won't happen again. I'll deal with it. Can we drop this?"

"We can't drop anything if at random you're blowing things up. We don't need to be exposed on top of everything else that's going on."

"You're worried about exposure when Maria's out there somewhere?"

"Michael, you know that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"You guys don't need to turn on each other, not now." Kyle whispered.

"You don't think that I want Maria back?" Max asked softly. "All I'm saying is that you need to try and stay as calm as possible."

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child. I already know all of this. I said I would deal with it."

"You don't have to deal with it alone. We're all in this together. I know that you've always handled things your own way and right now I'll respect that, but keeping everything in until you literally blow is not helping."

Michael just nodded his head. Even though everything that Max said was right there was only one person he let in, in that way.

"Now that we've addressed that problem we have one more to tackle. What do we tell Ms. DeLuca?" Kyle asked.

"I think she bought the "blackout" story. We just have to hope that Valenti can convince her to leave." Max answered.

"She won't leave until she sees Maria." Michael said "Which then leaves us with some interesting options. We can either lie or tell her the truth which could lead to her eventually finding out the whole truth."

"And adding a new member to our "I know an alien" club. And how do you think Ms. DeLuca will react to that? Maria told me she kind of freaked when she found out, would I be right in assuming her mom would react the same way?" Kyle questioned.

"Probably, for right now I think we should lie. Maybe we could say that Maria's visiting the Santa Fe State campus." Michael suggested.

"That won't work. Ms. DeLuca would wonder why she went by herself. I have something that you're really going to hate Michael, but I think it will work."

Michael looked at Max waiting for him to continue but he remained silent. Instead he motioned for them to head back to the apartment. Before they got to the door Kyle turned to Michael.

"We were supposed to be trying to fix the lights."

"Right." Michael walked to the door and waved his hand over it. They immediately saw the lights return to normal from the window.

When the three of them walked through the door it looked as if no one had moved since the lights went out.

"You all must think that I'm some kind of an idiot. Why are you trying so hard to keep me from seeing my daughter? I know something's going on. What are you guys hiding? I want to know and I want to know now!"

"Ms. DeLuca that's easy enough to explain. Like Michael said, Maria's not here. She's actually in New York visiting her friend Billy, right Michael?" Max replied discreetly elbowed Michael, whose mouth was now wide open.

"Yeah, that's where she went. She wanted to visit the "big city." Michael answered trying not to grit his teeth.

"See Amy we're not hiding anything. When Maria calls I promise she will know that you came by. I'll walk you out." Sheriff Valenti said.

Amy reluctantly allowed herself to be guided towards her car.

"Jim, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"They just made you Sheriff again-,"

"Stand-in Sheriff, I'm there when Hanson needs me."

"Stand-in whatever. Why are you really over here? I mean it's a full house in there."

Jim hated lying to Amy, especially when it came to something that she actually did have a right know about. He knew that he had to respect Max's decision to keep her in the dark.

"Michael was missing Maria and he got into a fight with some guy outside of the Crashdown. We all went home with him to calm things down. That's why we are all here. Nothing else is going on." Jim said reassuringly

"You'll call me as soon as Maria gets back?" Amy asked in a quiet voice.

"The very second. I have to say something else. I am really glad that you came here today. It took a lot of guts on your part."

"And it's about time, right? That's what you were going to add. But I already know that."

"I really wasn't going to say it, but yeah it is about time. See you later Amy."

Jim watched Amy drive away and wondered when exactly would she be able to know the whole truth of what was going on, if at all.

**Somewhere in Roswell**

Maria was unexpectedly awakened from another restless sleep by the sound of a tray sliding across the floor.

"Eat this time. Kheive told me about your cute little hunger strike."

"Melissa?"

"You catch on quick don't you?"

"What is your deal?"

"My deal is that I was assigned the responsibility to "blend in" with humans! I got stuck living with you filthy creatures from the very beginning of this mission! So my deal is I want to go home, and you're going to help me get there!"

"My, aren't we testy," Maria replied.

"You should be more worried about what I can do to you if you piss me off rather than how testy I am."

"I was worried when I first met you and Kheive, but all the time that I've spent by myself has given me a chance to think. Do you want to know what I've come up with? Neither one of you are going to hurt me in spite of all the threats."

"What makes you think that?"

"The fact that you haven't done it yet. You want information from me and you both have tried to scare it out of me, but no one's tried the torture thing."

"Are you asking me to because we can do the whole "torture thing"?"

"I've realized that you need me, and for some reason you need me completely unharmed. So I can pretty much say and do whatever I want."

"I'd like to see you try. You're right about one thing I do have orders not to harm you. But don't let that give you a false sense of security. As soon as Kheive gets everything he needs, I'm allowed to do whatever I wish with you. I was really hoping to kill you in front of your boyfriend, send him completely over the edge something along those lines."

Maria could hear the smile in Melissa's voice. She was enjoying this way too much.

"Just so you know I won't be helping you with anything." Maria replied.

"We'll see about that. Kheive has ways of getting into your mind and finding what he wants. He's already blocked you connection."

"And that's all he's done, so get off it lady. I've had enough of your crap for today. I can't believe that Kheive sent his lackey instead of coming himself. What are you his maid, or maybe you're the cook. There has to be something wrong with you that made him pick you to hang around such inferior creatures, as he said it. All that time with us pesky humans must've been really annoying. So what was it? Did you pick the short straw or is it that you're just not too bright?"

"What did you say?" Melissa whispered.

"I didn't stutter. Kheive is commander and he sent you to interact with all of humanity. Why didn't he pick someone else? There has to be something wrong with you, something that made you the perfect candidate for such a lowly job."

"You don't know anything. I was chosen, because of my innate ability to assimilate information. None of the other five members in the crew could do it only me. Next time you want to shoot off your mouth at least know what you're talking about."

"Sounds like I hit a nerve. It must suck not being the brains behind an operation."

"Wrong again smart ass. I planned all of this. I did all the research on you after Kheive found your signature. And I also found this building in your awful alien obsessed town."

Maria was instantly quiet. She knew from the moment she met Melissa what would set her off. She never anticipated that pressing Melissa's buttons would get her to give out so much useful information. Maria now knew that a total of six aliens came to earth on Kheive's mission, and that she was still in Roswell.

"I have you to thank for the total darkness."

"It serves its purpose."

"I bet it does," Maria muttered.

"Eat up, because you have a long day ahead of you."

"What's going on?"

"Stage one." Melissa said flippantly.

"Stage one of what?"

"You'll see."

Maria heard the all to familiar sound of departing steps and then silence. She reached out and felt for the tray and touched a cup and bowel. The only reason that she even considered eating was because of what Michael said to her. She picked up the cup, sniffed it, and did the same to the bowl. Not smelling anything peculiar she sipped what was in the cup, water and the bowl contained some kind of chicken broth. Maria finished her meal as quickly as possible trying her best to ignore the greasy tasteless nature of her food.

"I am pleased that you have decided to consume the contents of the tray."

Maria immediately recognized the voice of Kheive speaking in his usual arrogant tone.

"Maybe if the service was better I would have "consumed" something before now."

"Taralah informed me of you current insolent behavior. It is interesting that you would make such assumptions in a situation that you have no control of. Nevertheless we will not discuss this any further because I have business I must attend to."

"Leaving so soon?" Maria quipped.

"Not at all. At this time you are my only existing business. I am glad indeed that you opted to consume you meal. You have ingested a large quantity of _Yiv_ _Noipos_ a plant native to my planet. The _Yiv_ _Noipos_ takes effect rather quickly, possibly even more so on your archaic body."

"Wh- what? You drugged me?"

"I require certain information that you are unwilling to give me freely and that I can not take from your mind due to your bond with your _am-oreby_."

Maria's head began to spin so fast that she had to fight to physically keep herself still.

"What's happening to me?"

"Essentially the active compound within the _Yiv Noipos_ opens the mind in ways that will inhibit your ability to hinder my assignment any further."

"Why didn't you do this earlier?"

"I would have thought it obvious. There is no way to administer the active compound within the _Yiv_ _Noipos_ other than through consumption.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"The slight feeling of unease that you are experiencing will pass away as you fall unconscious."

Unease that's the understatement of the year. Maria's head was no longer spinning, now it felt like an elephant was stomping on her forehead. She was actually grateful for the total darkness because she was sure that light would probably kill her right now. All of her senses seemed to kick into over drive. The clothes that she was wearing hurt her skin but it was her only protection from the extreme cold the she was feeling. With chattering teeth, she silently prayed for this torture to end. She prayed for the sweet relief that passing out would bring.

"This is taking a really long time, can we please get this over with?" she asked wincing at the sound of her own voice.

"I must wait for you to become unconscious to begin my search through your mind."

Kheive's voice was so loud it felt like it was pounding its way into Maria's head, but through the pain she understood perfectly what was said and she knew what should be done. The only problem was how was she going to keep herself conscious? She felt pain all over her body and that alone was enough to force all consciousness away.

"Think of Michael. Think of Michael."

This became her mantra. Maria concentrated on all things Michael, his hair, his eyes, his touch, even the way food sprayed from his mouth when he laughs. Before she knew it she was back at the apartment they shared. Looking around all her friends where there, and everyone looked so anxious. The only person that she was not able to see was the one she wanted to see most.

"Where's Michael?" she spoke aloud.

Everyone in the room turned towards her all looking genuinely bewildered.

"What did you say?" Isabel asked. She was now standing and walking towards Maria.

"I was thinking out loud," she replied. "I just wanted to see Michael that's all. It is kind of frustrating that I can't even control my own dreams now."

Everyone in the room stood up and gathered around Maria. Liz was the first to speak.

"Maria? Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?"

"But you're in Michael's body." Liz answered.

"What? This is the craziest dream I've had in a while. I need to sit down."

"Maria, this is not a dream unless every single one of us are having the same one." Isabel said.

"Wait a minute if I'm here where's Michael? Did he switch with me? Oh God, what if he's there with those things. That's all they wanted, you all and I've just delivered Michael to them on a silver platter."

"No you haven't."

It was a thought rather than a spoken statement and Maria would recognize the voice anywhere.

"Michael, what's going on? I don't understand any of this."

"You and me both. All I know is that it felt like I was being run over by a truck except it didn't hurt and the truck was you. So now you're really here. In my head."

"I guess so. This is interesting. Do I have control over what you do?"

"Only if I give it to you. When you wanted to sit I felt you pulling me there and I just gave in to the feeling."

"So now what?"

"You can start by opening your eyes and talking to us." Max interrupted.

Michael/ Maria seemed to have forgotten about everyone else in the room, so much so that they were talking out loud to each other through one mouth.

"Sorry Max, this is just really weird." Michael/ Maria said.

"You can say that again." Kyle chimed in.

"Since we're _all_ here we should find a way to get Maria, all of her, back here. As weird as this is, we might be able to use this new "situation" to our advantage. Max said.

"I have so much new information to tell all of you." Michael/ Maria almost yelled.

"Who Michael or Maria?" Kyle asked.

"Let's see Kyle, Michael's been with us the whole time how much _new_ information could he have?" Isabel quipped.

Max acted as though he did not hear either Kyle or his sister.

"What new information?"

"The people who have me were sent to this planet right after the crash by Khivar. Their mission is to find and destroy the _Royal Four_. The ship that was sent to earth had six members total. I've only met two, the robot man I told Michael about before, his name is Kheive and he's the commander of the mission. The other one is a woman. She did tell me her real name but I don't remember what it is. She's the one who gave me most of the information that I have. Melissa is her earth name because her job was to "blend in". She's really bitter about being here for so long and living among humans. They both have this insane superiority complex and are constantly talking down to me. Anyway back to what I was saying. They found me because of the bond Michael and I share. Kheive has a kind of psychic power and he was able to find the unique signature that comes from our bond. Michael is my _am-oreby_ that's the word they've been using. And I'm still in Roswell."

Michael/ Maria sat back and looked around the room. Everyone seemed to be processing all the new information that was just shared. It was completely silent for several minutes then everyone started talking at the same time.

"You're really still in Roswell?" Isabel spoke.

"Do you know where the other four members of the crew are?" Max asked

"Why did they take you if the knew where Michael was too?" Liz yelled

"Thanks Liz." Michael/ Maria replied.

"Sorry." Liz said quickly.

"You guys I know you're excited, but when everybody talks at the same time it's really hard to understand anything that's being said. Melissa said she picked out the place where I'm being held, and that it was in Roswell. I don't know where the others are but I can try to find out. I think they took me because they knew I would be powerless. Kheive gave me the impression that he doesn't know exactly what all of your powers were. Kheive is the one who has been blocking Michael and I, for what reason I couldn't tell you. You should also know that right now I'm probably unconscious. I was given this plant from Kheive's native planet that was supposed to open my mind for him. I'm suppose to be unconscious, but I don't think it's reacting well to my body. It made me feel horrible. I was distracting myself from the pain and that's how I got here in Michael's body."

"Is that another aspect of your bond?" Max questioned.

"It is really the only answer, but this is the first time something like this has happened." Michael/ Maria answered.

"Not exactly." Isabel said.

"What do you mean? I think we would know if we've been inside of each other's head before."

"Michael told me, when we dreamwalked Maria the last time, that she's pulled him into her dreams before. Maybe that part of your bond is evolving or growing stronger."

"It's really cool that you're sort of back Maria, but I think that we should try to use this to our advantage. Does Kheive know that you're in Michael's head right now?" Kyle asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe this is what's supposed to happen. He knows more about the bond than any of us do. I'm not even sure I can go back to my body."

"What about doing the same thing you did to get in here." Michael silently thought to both of them.

"That could work. Then what?"

Max cleared his throat. "I don't mean to interrupt, but are you aware that every time you talk to each other Michael's eyes close? Back to what Kyle was saying. What now? Can you tell us anything about where you're being held?"

"The room is small something like ten by fourteen. Whatever the building is I'm not in the middle of it because there are boarded up windows on three out of four of the walls. The door is a metal one and the inside walls are painted cinderblocks. That's all I've got."

"Did they turn the lights on for you?" Isabel inquired.

"Nope, I just had to use the senses that I had left." Michael/ Maria said smiling.

Maria could feel pride coming from Michael. It was nice to feel him again, no matter how it was made possible. She felt safe and complete, and becoming comfortable with those feelings was probably not the best idea. She immediately began to feel as if he was suddenly slipping away from her.

"You guys I think I'm going back. I'm being pulled back. I hope everything I said helped. I'm really tired of these people they're-." Michael/ Maria said stopping abruptly.

Michael's body slumped over on the couch. Max rushed toward his side and helped him sit up. His eyes were still open and glossy.

"Michael? Michael!" Max said shaking him but getting no response. Finally he blinked.

"Can you stop shaking me please?" Michael replied as if nothing strange happened.

"Is Maria-?" Liz began.

"She's gone."

He took a deep breath, stood, and began to pace.

"I can still feel her though. She's sick. Whatever that bastard gave her is making her really sick. We have to get back and we have to do it soon."

Everyone just nodded. Amazed by the calm in Michael's voice.

"Since the room has three windows we can start by looking for buildings with a small room attached to it. I'll take my bike and start right now."

"Michael you have to promise me that if you think that you've found the build you'll call and not go in alone." Valenti said, breaking the silence he had maintained since Maria inhabited Michael's body.

"I can't make that promise not when I know and _feel_ how sick Maria is."

"Then we're all going together. No arguments. You, Max, Isabel, and I will go in my patrol car so we won't look suspicious driving all over town."

"Dad, what about Liz and I?" Kyle complained.

"You'll stay here, and wait for us to call. Amy might even come by again and we will need someone to cover for us. Unless the three of you think that she should know the truth." Valenti said hoping that his true feelings were not showing too much."

"At this point it's still up to Michael. He should decide whether we tell Amy or not." Max responded

"I don't think we should, not yet. The Last thing we need is a panicked, gung-ho DeLuca on our hands."

Sheriff Valenti put on his hat and glasses before he spoke.

"Okay then let's get started, and hope we get lucky."


	7. Part 7

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I don't own a thing. This ain't mine.

Author's Note: This is the Sequel to Pride and Joy and Pain. It needed one because nothing really got resolved in that fic. So here's my chance to explain why everything happened the way that it did, and of course to give you a peek into the "new" life Maria and Michael are living.

It has been a very long time since I have updated this story and I didn't want to cop out and rush a crappy next part or conclusion. I hope this was worth the wait for those of you who have been waiting.

Thank you WEASLEYxISxMYxKING, E, dangerouscutestuff, Unforgivable Horror 125, LucreziaNoin86, and lexis for you Chapter 6 reviews they were really great motivation.

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***Somewhere in Roswell***

"Wake up! Wake up, now you mindless interceding twerp!" Melissa screamed with rage drenching her voice.

Maria tried to clear her head by shaking it back and forth but that caused it to pound even hard than it had before she fell unconscious. Suddenly, what little she had in her stomach came pouring out of her mouth.

"Oh, God." Maria moaned. "What do you want now? I did what you asked me to, I ate that poison."

"Yeah, you did that but you also completed your bond with your _am-oreby_ before Kheive could get anything from your half-witted human mind. I promise you I'm not getting stuck on this desolate planet. I'm not about to let you and your boyfriend's stupid union gets me killed. So what your going to do is tell me exactly what I want to know right now or I'll start breaking every bone is your fragile little body."

Through her pain Maria's mind was clear enough to understand everything that Melissa said.

"When Michael finds you he's going to make you pay for this and I'm going to be there to witness it when he does." Maria said finding the strength to sound as tough as she could in her current state.

"Don't make me laugh. Your boyfriend is not strong enough to make me pay for anything. That's evident in the fact that he hasn't had the power to find you yet. If Michael were as developed, as we had originally feared, you would have already been found. But instead you're here with me about to suffer quite a bit of pain if you don't start cooperating."

"Kheive said you couldn't hurt me."

"Well Kheive's not here little girl and the only reason we couldn't physically harm you was because we didn't want to bring about the completion of the bonding process with your

_am-oreby_. But since that has already happened we have nothing to lose."

"You keep saying the bond is completed but I didn't do anything."

"There's just another example of what's wrong with you humans, you don't know anything. You can't feel any difference?"

Of course Maria could. From the time she regained consciousness she could feel Michael, completely. Maria felt if she concentrated hard enough she could feel his heart beating in her own chest, but she thought that it could be her imagination or a reaction to sharing his body.

"I do feel differently actually, my head is spinning worse than before and I'll probably throw up again. Thanks for asking."

Maria felt an extreme temperature drop in the room. She was just beginning to recall the only other time the room was this cold when she was flung against the wall and pinned there by a very strong invisible force.

"I'm sick and tired of your smart ass comments. So this is what's going to happen. I want to know everything you know, and I mean everything, about Michael, his powers and who else within the Antarian Royals he is in contact with."

It was getting harder for Maria to breath and she was starting to feel like she would pass out once again.

"And before you ask me why or give me another one of your oh so funny quips I want you to think about this. I am well aware of how strong the bond is between _am-orebies _and that you are prepared right now to die for him, but how prepared are you for someone else to die for him?"

"What are you talking about?" Maria asked between gasping for air.

"If you don't tell me everything I want to know you will soon find out exactly what I'm talking about."

Before Maria could completely slip into unconsciousness she suddenly hit the ground.

"I am going to give you some time to think and maybe your feeble mind will come to the right conclusion. For some reason you humans always need time so I'll give you until the _Yiv Noipos_ has run its course and that will be in about three hours. By the way, it gets worse before it gets better."

That was the last thing Maria heard before retreating footsteps and then silence. She crawled back to her mat and tried to get as comfortable as possible. She had been as strong as she could be throughout this entire ordeal but this was too much. If she did not give Kheive and Melissa what they wanted God knows who else they would be drag into this whole ordeal, and if she did she would be putting Michael and the others at risk. This feeling of helplessness was too much to handle and the effects of the _Yiv Noipos _were becoming unbearable. Hating herself for doing the only thing that she could at that moment she began to cry.

*

Amy walked through the front door of her house that had been so empty without Maria occupying half of the space inside. After driving around aimlessly for what seemed like hours, Amy was suddenly tired. All that she wanted to do was talk to Maria and tell her that she missed her. Amy felt that she had to do what she did to make her only daughter understand that in life there are some hard choices that must be made, and sometimes those choices are not ones that children can understand until they become parents themselves. She only wanted the best for Maria and she didn't want her baby girl to end up like she did or worse.

Amy was so deep in thought that she did not hear the phone until the third ring. She was surprised when she heard Maria's voice on the other end, and even more surprised when she found out that Maria was not in New York but right here in Roswell. It was a quick conversation, which was strange for both women, but Amy was not going to complain. She got herself ready to leave again because Maria wanted to meet her so that they could talk face to face.

"_Mom, I just want to put this all behind us. So do you want to grab something to eat?"_

"I thought that you were visiting Billy."

"_I'm sorry that wasn't true, I wasn't ready to see you."_

"_So what changed in a couple of hours, Maria?"_

"_I was being stubborn and silly. Mom, will you please just come?"_

"_Yeah I can be at the Crashdown in fifteen minutes."_

"_I'm not going to the Crashdown I'm there all of the time. How about Nelly's Café?"_

"_But that's on the edge of town. Why so far away?"_

"_I just don't want the entire town watching our reunion. Will you come?"_

"_Of course baby. I'll be there."_

*

It took Amy more than a half an hour to get to the designated spot. She parked her car and was about to get out when she was overcome with a fluttering sensation in her stomach. She could not remember the last time that she felt this way, this nervous. Looking down at her hand they were actually trembling.

"Get a hold of yourself."

Amy took her cell phone out of her purse and dialed. It went straight to voicemail.

"That's weird," she thought.

Stepping out of her car she was in the middle of leaving a message when she felt something behind her. Amy turned expecting Maria to be standing in front of her, but all she met was darkness.

***Somewhere in Roswell***

Laying in the fetal position in the middle of her mat Maria was drying her tears. It was true that she felt more "discomfort" now than when she was initially drugged, but as soon as the first tears started to fall she felt an overwhelming sense of calm and immediately knew it was Michael he hated when she cried. He was whispering to her too, and the promises that he made she knew he was going to keep. She could tell that he was trying to take all of her pain onto himself, but she would not let him. Michael needed to be as strong as he could be.

When Melissa called Michael weak before Maria was trying her best to keep her rage at bay. He was the strongest person that she knew and to hear that bitch call him weak pissed her off. And what better way for Michael to prove his strength than to kick Kheive, Melissa and all the rest of their alien asses'? So there was no way she was going to let him do anything to weaken himself not with him so close. Yes she could feel his proximity, she could not calculate the distance but for the last hour he had been getting closer and closer and she was certain that he could feel the same thing. It was like a mental game of hot and cold.

"So have you made your decision?"

"Melissa it couldn't have been three hours yet."

"You know, you're right but I was beginning to get impatient. Plus how much better will my physical persuasion be with you still experiencing the _Yiv Noipos_? And Kheive says that I can do whatever I want because you've lost almost all of your usefulness."

"Almost huh?" Maria mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Well I can't kill you because with your bond completed it will be much easier for your _am-oreby_ to track you. But what would drive him on would be feeling the agony of his beloved. So you see we still need you just not in the same way."

"Do what you want I'm not telling you anything."

"That's what you think, but just in case you happened to fall unconscious or perish before I get the information that I desire, your boyfriend will be taken care of. You can bet the farm on that. We've called everyone in on this one and usually one against many works badly for the "one"."

"You're such a bitch."

"Oh Maria, I pride myself on that fact, but just in case there is any doubt left in your mind about how serious I really am let the games begin."

*

"Michael? Michael?" Max repeated. "Are we getting any closer? MICHAEL!"

"Max," Isabel whispered. She was sitting next to her brother in the back seat of the police SUV. "Give him a break. He may be talking to Maria right now or something."

Michael was not communicating with Maria at all. He was concentrating on keeping himself under control at the moment. Michael chose to not to speak because he was not great at keeping his anger to himself once even an ounce of it boiled over. Maria, his Maria was being hurt physically. Michael was sure that the poison that was coursing through her veins was making it hard for Maria to maintain consciousness because of how heightened it made every one of her senses. She was not letting him take any of her pain away and that was pissing him off. Through all of this Maria was still trying to protect him. Michael's message to Maria was to give Melissa and Kheive whatever they wanted so they would leave her alone. Maria wouldn't do it and Michael knew that; which was making him even angrier.

Michael was calming down and about to finally answer Max when he felt a sharp stab of pain in his left arm. It felt like his arm was shattered only he knew that it was not his own arm. The lights in the anterior of the SUV began brightening and dimming, the siren came on and off, and finally the vehicle began to lose power. Valenti was looking around to see if he could find the problem when Michael finally spoke up.

"You need to pull this thing over." He said in the steadiest voice he could muster.

"What's going on with the car?" Valenti said mildly distracted.

"Pull Over NOW!" Michael repeated.

Valenti did as he was told and Michael was out of the car before it came to a complete stop. He was walking away from everyone. Isabel and Max were right behind him they were the first to notice the white sparks that were coming from Michael's hands. Without warning the boulders along the side of the road crumbled to dust and the powder that was left behind caught fire. And just as quickly as the flames appeared they were gone.

"MICHAEL! I thought that you were going to control yourself." Max said a note of panic in his voice.

"Maxwell, back off! I didn't blow anything up okay!"

It was true nothing had exploded; in fact Michael did not even raise a finger when the rocks disintegrates and turned into flames. Michael displayed a power that neither of the other two had demonstrated or seen before.

Michael turned around and faced them. "I'm ready let's get going. We've, I've wasted enough time."

"Whoa, not until you tell us what that was about. We don't want to be driving along and burst into flames." Valenti said. He had watched the entire incident while standing next to the driver's side of the car.

"Valenti could you give us a minute?" Isabel pleaded. The shadow that crossed Michael's face was not lost on her.

"We'll all be right over in a bit."

She turned and looked Michael straight in the eyes.

"He's right, none of us would appreciate being burned alive. Who would save Maria then? So what's going on? Did you connect with her again?"

"Those things are harming Maria as we speak and now her arm is broken. The more time we stand out here the more she's going to suffer. I promised Maria that I would always protect her, and until we get back in the car and find her I'm not keeping that promise. So can we please just go the clock is ticking. Look, I lost it and it won't happen again."

A strange calm was settling on Michael's face and without any more questions everyone was in the car.

Valenti looked around the car at the occupants. "Is everything okay?"

Max spoke this time. He had chosen to hold his tongue until this point. He did not want Michael to become more aggressive, and his silence seemed like the best way to avoid any further confrontation.

"Everything is fine. Michael, are we still headed in the right direction?"

Michael just nodded his head in response and silently cursed himself for not keeping his cool. He was now concentrating fully on Maria and trying to take all her pain away only he was being blocked. He knew that it was Maria who was still trying to keep her pain to herself.

We're on our way.

Michael sent this message. He was not surprised by the response that he received back.

Hurry the hell up.

***Somewhere in Roswell***

"Your insipid body is surprisingly fragile. Taralah has just told me how effortlessly she was about to fracture your bones. As we expected you have not revealed anything about your am-oreby. And I am afraid that I have grown tired of hearing you scream. Taralah is however receiving great pleasure from watching you writhe in pain."

While hugging her arm to her body Maria fixed her swollen mouth to speak. She tasted blood in her mouth and began to gag but composed herself.

"Kheive, long time, no hear. I was beginning to believe that Tra Lah Lah, Melissa or whatever her name is, was running the show."

"Silly little girl your manipulations will not work on me. I have dealt with Taralah and her tendency to articulate more than she should. I am here to conclude what I started earlier. I will get into your mind even if I have to rip it to shreds."

"And how do you propose to do that? You couldn't before what makes you think you can now?"

"That is the most important question that you have asked throughout this entire ordeal, and you are only partially correct. I didn't invade your mind before because I was very controlled in my chosen method of invasion. I am going to make you aware of the fact that if I had decided to use the full extent of my cerebral capabilities your meager, un-evolved, human brain would have been reduce to nothing more than a warm liquid draining from you nasal cavities. Since I cannot decipher much of anything from such free flowing fluid I left you mind intact."

Maria was speechless. Throughout Kheive's dialogued his voice remained calm and even but the coldness in it was unmistakable and Maria had no problem believing a single word of what was said to her. She knew that he wasn't the "joking" or "bluffing" type. Her own instincts had told her that from the beginning. But for Maria the fear that Kheive intended her to feel from his words was almost nonexistent, and she believed that he could sense that very fact from her as well.

"The only choice you have at this juncture is to finally cooperate or I will do what I deem necessary to obtain the information that I require."

After a long pause Maria finally spoke, "Well you do what you have to, because I'm not telling you anything. That was my answer then and it's still my answer now."

" I predicted as much. Taralah, please bring in what is needed for the final stage."

"Get your damn hands off of me! Are you crazy?" The voice Maria heard sounded angry and scared at the same time and the voice was one that she knew all too well.

"You see," began Kheive, "I anticipated your response to my unusually sensible offer, and I have no more time for such sensibility.

"What offer did you make me? To help you kill Michael and you won't turn my brain to mush? How dare you bring her into all of this, this has nothing to do with her." Maria screamed full of rage and making no attempt to hide the fact from her captures.

"Look, Girl we gave you enough chances. And I thought our offers were all too fair, your life for your boyfriends. Now it's your mother's life or you boyfriend's. You make the choice." Melissa added.

"How dare you! You both are going to pay for this!"

Maria's response was met with silence. She was straining her ears to hear any sound and finally a voice almost more familiar than her own spoke up.

"Maria? Is that you?"

"Yes mom it's me."

*

Michael, Max, Isabel, and Valenti had driven almost to the edge of town in complete silence. Michael was shifting uncomfortable in the passenger seat while the others were watching him and everything around him closely. They were all anxious and Michael's "new power did not help this anxiety.

"If you all have something to say could you say it and stop staring at me." Michael mumbled.

Isabel was the first to speak, "What you did back there with the flames, I have never seen anything like that. Do you have a new power that you haven't told us about?"

Michael sat quietly for a moment and it seemed to everyone that Isabel's question was not going to get answered before he finally spoke.

"How can you hide something that you didn't know about yourself?"

"Michael," Max's voice was pleading.

"I know what you are going to say and I am in control. I am not going to do anything else that will take more time away from me getting to Maria." Michael said sounding exhausted from having to assure everyone that he was safe to be around.

"That's good to hear, but it wasn't what I was going to say. No one has really brought up the fact that we are potentially walking right into a massive trap. How do we know that what Maria was told was the truth? What kind of plan do we have to get her out of wherever she is? How are we going to make sure that all of us are going to be and get out safely? The fact of the matter is we need to be preparing ourselves for some kind of battle. Are we all ready for that?" Max sat quietly letting his words sink in.

"I am ready to do whatever to get Maria back. Whatever I have to do," was Michael's reply. "And if I have to, I'm ready to do it alone."

"You're not going to have to. We would never let you!" Isabel exclaimed.

" I don't know how much help I can be but I'm with Isabel." Valenti chimed in.

"Then it's agreed, we are all going in, we just need a plan." Michael said with a commanding tone in his voice that was different from anything that anyone had ever heard before. "I know exactly where to start."


End file.
